Wash. Privacy Bill Fails Again; Gov. Inslee Getting 988, Muni Bills

“The issue is not going away,” said Washington Senate Technology Committee Chairman Reuven Carlyle (D) in a Monday interview. The SB-5062 sponsor said he will try again on privacy next year. “I am beyond thrilled that the central elements and the framework of the Washington Privacy Act is showing up in meaningful state privacy legislation across the country,” including in Virginia, Florida and New York, he said. “Of course, I’m disappointed that after three years of 48-1 votes in the Senate, the House remains fiercely opposed to any kind of meaningful compromise.”

The bill lacked enough support to pass the House, even after Judiciary Committee Chairman Drew Hansen (D) offered to remove a one-year sunset on companies' right to cure. That compromise was “not my preferred policy option,” but “we were willing to entertain taking off the sunset in an attempt to reach agreement, which still would have had the support of Consumer Reports, Common Sense Media and the Privacy Clearinghouse,” Hansen told us Monday. “We did feel that it was important for consumers to be able to enforce these rights directly, so we would have retained a private right of action” with remedies limited to injunction and attorney fee recovery.

The American Civil Liberties Union hopes to work with legislators on a stronger bill next year, said Jennifer Lee, ACLU-Washington technology and liberty project manager. ACLU opposed SB-5062 because it “would have legitimized a status quo that protects big tech companies, and not people,” she said.

The ACLU “simply can’t stomach the idea of a Democratic-leaning state passing legislation that in any way, shape or form allows industry to function,” Carlyle said. “At the end of the day, the people of Washington have no rights, no protections, no guardrails, no rules, no ability to access, correct or opt out.”

This legislation’s failure "shows there are some fundamental disagreements about what makes a good privacy law, and that there is deep skepticism that tech companies can police themselves,” said Common Sense Director-State Advocacy Joseph Jerome in a statement. “Washington is a missed opportunity ... and we hope lawmakers take the right lessons from this fight and avoid racing to pass even weaker proposals in the name of getting something done.” Consumer Reports urges “legislators in other states to advance privacy legislation that puts consumers first,” said Senior Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney.

The Florida Senate is expected to pass its privacy bill (SB-1714) Tuesday or Wednesday, an aide for Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) said Monday. McFarland wrote another version (HB-969) that passed the House last week (see 2104220062). One big difference is that the House bill includes a private right of action. “The bill will bounce back and forth until a version is agreed on,” the aide said.

Florida privacy bills “have missed the mark, and will negatively impact local businesses with needless additional expenses for measures that fail to deliver meaningful privacy protections to consumers,” the Internet Association blogged Friday. IA complained that legislators didn’t sufficiently involve businesses in the bills’ drafting. It declined to comment now on Washington's bill. Microsoft didn’t comment. Both supported SB-5062 when it passed the Senate but not after the House made changes.

Other Bills

The Washington legislature sent a bill to implement national 988 (see 2104200021) to Gov. Jay Inslee (D) Monday after HB-1477 passed the Senate 27-22 and the House 71-25 Saturday. The legislature also sent two public broadband bills passed Friday. Senators voted 65-32 and the House concurred with Senate amendments to Hansen’s HB-1336; senators concurred with House amendments and voted 40-9 for SB-5383 by Sen. Lisa Wellman (D). Inslee's office declined to comment.

Lawmakers amended HB-1336 and SB-5383 so they could work together if enacted, Hansen told us. Together they would remove all state restrictions on public broadband, though the Senate bill would add a reporting requirement specific to unserved areas, he said: “Washington becomes one of the states without an absurd state law that restricts local governments from serving the public with broadband, just the way they would serve the public with power or water.” Hansen supports both bills and expects Inslee to sign at least HB-1336, he said. Wellman didn’t comment.

In Florida Monday, senators voted 22-17 for a social media regulation bill to make it unlawful for sites like Twitter to deplatform political candidates, while requiring sites to be transparent about how they police users (see 2104190030). “This isn’t Republican as I know it,” protested Sen. Jeff Brandes, even though his party wrote the bill. Some Democrats pointed out the same. “This is a form of big government,” which the GOP-controlled chamber usually opposes, said Sen. Tina Polsky (D) at the livestreamed vote.

The bill is about protecting free expression, disagreed Sen. Kelli Stargel (R). “I understand that we have a situation with businesses and their private rights, but when you get to a situation where a business has far exceeded and has a monopoly on a message and an ability to really direct a message through that monopoly, that is where government ... steps in.”

Florida senators also voted 37-2 Monday for a pole attachments bill (SB-1944) that would give the Public Service Commission authority to regulate and mediate. Florida earlier deregulated telecom. Under this plan, the PSC would adopt attachment rules and certify to the FCC by Jan. 1. It goes to the House, which has a similar proposal (HB-1567) awaiting a floor vote. If enacted, Florida could become the 23rd state, plus the District of Columbia, to reverse preempt FCC pole attachment authority. Pennsylvania and West Virginia recently joined that list after many years with no additions.